As soon as Prince Zaihito opened his mouth, Prince Kanin made his views clear and clear, and he and the entire War Department supported the war between the United States and Britain and other countries.

Prince Zaihito's straightforward remarks completely chilled Konoe Fumima's heart, and he originally expected the old general of the imperial family to oppose a war with the United States and Britain from the perspective of the honor and prestige of the imperial family. Of course, he was prepared for the current situation, after all, if the old prince did not agree, those fellows in the Admiralty would not submit this plan to the cabinet for discussion, let alone show it in front of His Majesty the Emperor.

I saw that Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace slowed down a little and continued: "Your Majesty, in the face of such an urgent state of affairs, if we delay for a long time, we will definitely fall into the trap of the United States and Britain, then I am afraid that the mobility of the imperial defense will gradually weaken, and the armaments of the United States and Britain will be gradually strengthened, and it will be increasingly difficult for us to fight, so that in the final analysis, we will probably face a situation in which we will lose the opportunity to remove the obstacles of the United States and Britain. Therefore, in order to start a war while there was still confidence in waging war against the United States and Britain, and taking into account the meteorological conditions of the predetermined battlefield and the mobilization of troops, the requisition and modification of ships, and the completion of the deployment of troops on strategic points by long-distance sea transportation, the time was set for the completion of war preparations in late August. ”

However, Prince Zaihito did not completely disappoint Fumima Konoe, and suddenly said in a changed tone: "As the prince of the Great Japanese Empire, although I agree to fight against the United States and Britain, it is needless to say that for the sake of the eternal survival of the imperial family, I should do everything possible in diplomacy. During this period of diplomatic negotiations, the High Command will proceed cautiously in preparing for the relevant operations. We should try not to provoke Britain and the United States into our combat preparations and create obstacles to diplomatic negotiations. ”

"But there is a deadline for diplomatic efforts. If there is still no diplomatic hope of achieving the goal, it is necessary to immediately make up our minds to go to war against Britain and the United States, and further promote preparations for war by sending additional troops to the southern part of French Indochina, etc., with a deadline of late May. In view of the actions of these troops, I think it is necessary to make up our minds to go to war by early August at the latest. ”

"Your Royal Highness, during the war with the United States and Britain, how should the empire deal with the British war against China and the Red Soviet Union in the north?" Prime Minister Tanabe asked.

Prince Zaihito looked at Tanabe and said, "You don't have to worry about the northern issues during the war in the south. You also saw Germany's ambitions for the Soviet Union. According to the judgment of the headquarters of the base camp, there must be a war between the Soviet Union and Germany, so there is no need to worry about the northern issue. As for the Shina battlefield, the base camp means to continue to maintain the current state of affairs. Before the end of the first phase of the war between the Reich and the United Kingdom against the United States. There should be no large-scale battles. ”

"The most rear. In the event of a war in the south, the Reich was required to promptly inform Germany and Italy of its intentions, and to conclude an agreement on the conduct of war in secret beforehand. In the hope that Japan, Germany and Italy would cooperate with each other to achieve the goal of the war. At the same time, under no circumstances should Germany and Italy make peace with the United States and Britain alone, and this is particularly important in guiding the war. ”

Although Prince Zaihito's words were not much, they played the most important role in the entire imperial meeting, and after Prince Zaihito finished speaking, Konoe Fumima said that the result of today's imperial meeting had been decided, and he dared to say a word with Prince Zaihito of the Imperial Palace in the army.

Konoe Fumima's worries are well-founded, don't look at His Royal Highness the Prince is over seventy years old, but his status in the army is not comparable to everyone, even the current land and sea ministers. His Royal Highness the Prince was the uncle of His Majesty the Emperor, a key minister in charge of the army for the emperor, and served as the chief of staff of the Japanese Army from the September 18 Incident to the full-scale invasion of China, directing the war of aggression against China behind the scenes. He issued every order for the Japanese invasion of China, and he played an irreplaceable role in the growth of the imperial army and the capture of the territory of China.

Unlike ordinary members of the royal family who hold military power by virtue of their status, His Royal Highness the Prince can get today's status is all he has earned with his own military achievements, especially during the Russo-Japanese War, he was transferred to the Manchurian Army General Headquarters Lieutenant General Attached, he was unwilling to be transferred away from the front line when the Russian army counterattacked, and commanded the army to fight hard with the Russian army near Benxi Lake. And commanded the 2nd Cavalry Brigade to make a far-reaching detour from the right bank of the Taizi River, skillfully inserting into the rear of the Russian army from the flank, causing the collapse of the frontal general offensive of the Russian army of 220,000 people.

In these years, the old prince quietly borrowed the hand of the expansion faction to demote Ishihara Wan'er, the hero of the Manchurian Incident, from the staff headquarters, and at the same time indulged his nephew King Hatohiko Asakanomiya to run rampant in China; In order to form the German-Japanese-Italian Triple Alliance, he asked Vice Minister Shigeru Sawada to take his seal and force the Minister of Land to resign, thus using the "active military attache system of the Minister of the Army and the Navy" to bring down the cabinet of Mitsumasa Yonechi of the Navy, which did not agree to the alliance of the three countries; Even Okamura Ninji, who was far away, was recalled from the Shina battlefield by him because of disobedience and was put into the military Senate for more than half a year. At this time, His Royal Highness the Prince was in fact the controller of the Imperial Japanese Army, and no one dared to provoke him, and who dared to oppose the tone he set.

Sure enough, after Prince Zaihito finished speaking, the wind in the east hall suddenly changed, and many people actively spoke and agreed with His Royal Highness's opinion.

The former president of the Planning Institute was Sadachi Suzuki, a lieutenant general in a suit who stood up and said, "I don't think there is any need to worry about the mental strength of the people and the people who make up the source of the empire's national strength, no matter what situation the empire faces in the future. The main problem was the material aspect, the empire's economy had developed mainly on the basis of trade with the British, American and British spheres of power, and most of the important goods were supplied from abroad. Since the outbreak of the Shina Incident, we have anticipated that the worst of today's situation will happen sooner or later, so we have been seeking to develop resources and expand our production capacity within the scope of self-sufficiency, with a view to gradually getting rid of our economic dependence on foreign countries. ”

"Since the outbreak of the war in Europe, the situation in the world has undergone drastic changes, especially since the rift in Japan-US relations appeared last summer, and it has been foreseen that although the rectification and expansion of Japan's productive forces are not sufficient, we must still make up our minds to quickly get rid of our dependence on Britain and the United States. To this end, since the second half of last year, on the one hand, we have imported 660 million yen of goods and acquired and stockpiled a number of important materials. On the other hand, it also wants to make use of its economic relations with Germany, the Soviet Union, and other countries to make up for its shortcomings. ”

But with the deterioration of relations between the empire and countries such as the United States and Britain, this supplement had to be abandoned. At this point, the mobility of the imperial state depended only on the power of the empire itself and on the productivity of Manchuria, China, French Indochina, and Thailand, which were under the power of the imperial army, and depended only on the important materials that had been stockpiled in advance. Thus, in the present day, when economic relations with Britain and the United States are completely severed, the mobility of the empire's national power will be weakened day by day. ”

"Liquid fuels, which have an extremely important relationship with the military, will be completely depleted by June or July next year, even if maximum wartime restrictions are imposed on civilian needs. Therefore, the decision to make peace and war, and to establish and consolidate a solid economic foundation, was absolutely necessary for the empire's self-existence. If the use of force to establish such an economic base had to be contemplated, it is estimated that our productive capacity will fall to half of its present capacity for a while, owing to the capacity of maritime transport and various other relations. Therefore, from the point of view of material relations, while trying to shorten the period of decline in productivity, it is also necessary to find ways to apply the results of force to production immediately and effectively. ”

"If we can firmly occupy the important areas in the south within three or four months, it will be possible to obtain oil, aluminum raw materials, nickel, raw rubber, tin and other materials in about six months. From the second year onwards, it is entirely possible to consider the effective use of these materials. However, because this is an armed war, unexpected situations sometimes arise, and we are considering ways to deal with such situations in advance. In addition, two or three kinds of materials, such as high-grade asbestos and cobalt, are difficult to obtain even if the southern region is occupied. However, these issues are being studied and replaced by other materials. Therefore, it is estimated that there may be little obstacle to maintaining and strengthening national strength. ”

Suzuki's words greatly relieved everyone in the East First Hall, this Suzuki Sadaichi is the president of the Cabinet Planning Institute, which is equivalent to the State Planning Commission, and the president of the Planning Institute is similar to the role of the director of the Planning Commission, responsible for the management and distribution of resources.

In addition, Suzuki has been engaged in economic warfare in the Japanese army for a long time, and before the 7.7 incident, he masterminded and planned the smuggling activities of the Kwantung Army, the Tianjin Army, and the puppet regime in eastern Hebei. When the Chinese Nationalist Government carried out fiat currency reform with the help of Britain and implemented economic unification, it was he who was the first among the Japanese to see the significance of fiat currency reform and ordered the Kwantung Army and the Tianjin Army to sabotage the fiat currency reform.

Therefore, Suzuki is the most knowledgeable about the strategic material reserves of the Great Japanese Empire, and since Suzuki advocates war according to the quantitative analysis of Japan's economic and military strength, it shows that Suzuki believes that the probability of winning the war is very high. As Suzuki judged, if we wait for the formation of the ABCD encirclement network, in a few years Japan will be left without oil, not only will the industry decline, but military action will also become impossible, and not only Manchuria, but also the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan will be lost.

Therefore, Suzuki believes that it is better to sit back and wait for the oppression of the other side than to ensure the growth of national strength. Therefore, it is indispensable to start a war with the United States and Britain and occupy the southern resource zone.

After everyone has finished speaking, according to the previous rules, the meeting should also be dispersed, and a decision will be made in the afternoon or tomorrow when His Majesty the Emperor will make a decision, and then the Cabinet will issue an edict. However, to everyone's surprise, today's meeting did not end there, and His Majesty the Emperor, who was sitting on the throne, coughed lightly and then made an exception to speak.

Emperor Hirohito didn't say much, only one sentence: "I, I am determined to fight against the United States and Britain!" ”。 (To be continued......)